Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The Windows on Cedar project is coming together. The windows are tentatively scheduled through next fall. They will be filled, soon, by the work of Sarah Claire Ahlers, a local photographer who has taken portraits around the Corcoran Neighborhood of South Minneapolis and will be posting them around the neighborhood starting here, soon. What she is doing is similar to the INSIDE OUT PROJECT.

In March and April, in honor of Reader's Art 12, I will show Northfield artist Sharol Nau.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Tonight we had a conversation, wide ranging, fun, about the return to physicality in art . Jeff Rathermel, Paulette Myers -Rich and Marianne Combs led the discussion with much response from the audience.Perhaps Jeff looks like he is pontificating and perhaps Marianne looks a bit incredulousBut, really, we were having a great discussion that ranged across history and media.

The show continues next week, through Friday, November 18. The gallery is open Monday, 10-5 . Other days, you should call ahead to set a time. I have a few appointments off site, but would love to have you in to see the show.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Though Jeff's show project gutenberg project continues, and people do come by to see it, my time has been consumed with saving the building!

It was time to attack stucco repair, before winter heaved more off. As is the usual nature of stucco repair, issues were revealed and the repair quickly doubled in scope and price. There was rotting along the foundation line...now fixed. Phew! It could have been so bad! Really bad!!! But Donnelly Stucco found it in time.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Reader's Art, an annual survey show of artists books, is entering its 12th year. .

The theme this year is :

LONGING FOR HOME

What does home mean to you? is it a place, a building, a feeling, a belief system,a family, a way of being in the world? What are you longing for?

This is show of ARTISTS BOOKS. All media and structures that can be construed as a book or refer sufficiently to bookness will be considered. Artists should send between 3-10 jpg's and a resume and/or artists statement. Please download the How to Apply document from the website for other instructions.

Corcoran Neighborhood, is pleased to present the 8th Annual Book Sale, October 15, 9am-4pm,at the Neighborhood Office, at the corner of Cedar Ave and 35th St, South Minneapolis.

Every Fall, the Corcoran Neighborhood puts on this one day sale, with refreshments, to raise money to support the neighborhood organization and especially the expenses associated with the Lutheran Volunteer Corps year-long volunteer position.

I have donated 7 boxes of art books to the sale this year! There are some real plum finds in the lots...some rare books, some odd books, contemporary art criticism, exhibition catalogs, graphic design, artist monographs, art history, and a large group of books on ceramics.

So why have I donated so many books?When I lived in Michigan, the library system was weak, with inter-library loan largely unavailable. In order to continue my lifelong learning, I had to BUY the books I needed. By comparison I now live in library heaven. So, I am moving books out to make room for more! And to make room for my retirement business: Sue's Luxury Fibers.

This is What Retirement Almost Looks Like

Susan Hensel Gallery will soon change its footprint in the neighborhood. The month in month out exhibition schedule is nearing its end with the current show. Monday hours will continue, but the space will become my working studio. Come in on any Monday to see what I am up to. I may be up to my elbows in paint and charcoal.

On Mondays you can see my work in process or you can come shop Sue's Luxury Fibers for yarn and materials for spinning, dyeing, weaving, knitting and felting.

In March, 2012, the show Reader's Art will return for the 12th year! I am committed to keeping that show alive and will continue presenting in this space for the forseeable future.

Project Gutenberg Projectclosing eventNovember 11, 7-9 pm

The Project Gutenberg Project by Jeff Rathermel continues at Susan Hensel Gallery through November 18. This show can be seen as an overall installation, a faux library, a cabinet of curiosity all focused on the idea of the book. The gallery is always open Mondays, 10-5 or viewings can be arranged by appointment.

A special event is being offered: Keep in Touch: Physicality in Contemporary Art , on Friday November 11, 7-9pm. Jeff, will be joined in conversation by Marianne Combs and Paulette Myers-Rich. Free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

The Original ShowatFlow Art Space

I am re-launching my exhibition career with this show

Flow Art Space is a new gallery in the basement of the Keg House Building in NE Minneapolis.

This group show runs October 19-30, with a reception for the artists October 21, 5:30-9pm.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

project gutenberg project proved to be a very busy opening with lots of "red dots." So many red dots that I really did not have time to shoot photos of the crowd until we were down to the few lingerers!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Jeff Rathermel is a master! His show, project gutenberg project, is a series of groupings around a topic. The green sheets are the titles of the series. The red sheets are cut to the precise size of the artwork being installed. They are laid out in their precise grids before any artwork actually is hung.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Project Gutenberg, the online archive of literature, ironically destroys printed books in order to salvage the information. Ironically, the process turns well ordered, collated text into a collection of dis-bound, chaotic materials that may or may not convey conventional information to us.With the project gutenberg project Jeff Rathermel has collected this discarded material and compiled and re-oredered it into comprehensible collections of information. He has reconsidered the book in all its parts and has chosen attributes to highlight.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Boxes upon boxes and bags upon bags of artwork arrived today. It is always hard to believe that a well ordered show comes out of the chaos of an install...But then there are people like Jeff Rathermel who are so organized and so experienced that anything other than order is unimaginable.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Jeff Rathermel is the executive director of Minnesota Center for Book Arts.But he is also an artist. Running a non-profit often saps his energy and thought processes for studio work.It is with great relief and excitement that he presents the Project Gutenberg Project, opening Friday, September 23 at Susan Hensel Gallery.

More and more, we are giving up the tangible for the digital. Project Gutenberg Project responds to this by celebrating the material beauty of the book and the value of tactile experience.Using book remains to create two and three dimensional work, this project both embraces and criticizes the power of technology to shape our understanding of the world.

The idea for the project grew out of a donation received by the Minnesota Center for Book: broken, dis-bound, trashed books.There were great works of literature, minor literary works, beautiful papers, illustrations, bits and pieces of varying quality that were the remains of the process of digitizing libraries undertaking by Project Gutenberg.In order to save the words, the books were destroyed.The organization could use little of what remained. Jeff Rathermel looked at these remains with the eyes of an artist who has been devoted personally andprofessionally to book and paper arts for years.

Project Gutenberg Project may be viewed simply at face value - a commentary on digital libraries and the "demise" of physical books - but it also has deeper underpinnings that explore notions of aesthetics, immediacy, cultural values and the basic human need to engage all senses to most effectively and satisfactorily experience the world they live in. And the reasonably priced objects and publications are just plain beautiful.

The show opensat Susan Hensel Gallery Friday, September 23, with a reception from 7-10pm.Also join Jeff for a closing event ,Keep in Touch: Physicality in Contemporary Art , on Friday November 11, 7-9pm, when he will be joined in conversation by Marianne Combs and Paulette Myers-Rich.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Jeff Rathermel's show, project gutenberg project, opens September 23. It successfully combines a certain nostalgia for old books, the irony of their destruction in service of salvation, and a new appreciation for the beauty of their materiality, even in their broken status.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Project Gutenberg Project Description: Commentaries on the pace of everyday life are far from unique but remain important as humans increasingly forfeit physical relationships for digital immediacy. The Project Gutenberg Project celebrates the beauty of book structures, honors traditional book art processes, exposes overlooked materials, and draws attention to the gratification that comes from tactile experiences. Using the remains of books scanned into digital libraries, Project Gutenberg Project speaks to the lack of physicality in contemporary art and the trend toward fetishizing book objects. Full of irony, the project both embraces and criticizes technology while elevating and violating its subject matter. Equal parts commentary, prophecy and preservation, the Project Gutenberg Project compels viewers to reflect on their interactions not only with books, but with all physical objects in their lives.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Jeff Rathermal, Executive Director of minnesota Center for Book Arts, stopped by the other day to show me how his exhibition, The Project Gutenberg Project, was coming along. He has been hard at work in his studio, working with the detritus from the Gutenberg Project. The Gutenberg Project disassembles old books, of varying value and states of repair, and digitizes them for posterity. You can actually download some from the internet. The gathering of the information is laudable, but the destruction of the books is sad. He has been examining the scraps, working with them to make beautiful objects that also comment on the irony of destroying to preserve.